Michael Gelber will now serve as acting commissioner of the Public Buildings Service and be one of two deputy PBS directors under a new dual-deputy structure.
The General Services Administration is appointing new leadership — both in its regional offices and in its Public Buildings Service, the division of the agency charged with managing the lion’s share of the federal government’s real estate.
Michael Gelber, who until this week served as the agency’s assistant commissioner for facilities management, is now the acting PBS commissioner, GSA Administrator Ed Forst wrote in an email to GSA staff.
Andrew Heller, who had served in that role since last August, will become one of two deputy commissioners under a new dual-deputy structure alongside Gelber, though Gelber will also now hold the acting commissioner title while Forst continues a search for a long-term leader for the Public Buildings Service.
“I’d like to extend my sincere gratitude to Andrew for his exceptional leadership and dedication while serving as Acting Commissioner. During his tenure, Andrew successfully led the PBS reorganization, positioning PBS to better serve our customers, strengthen operations, and support future growth,” Forst wrote. “I am confident that PBS will continue to build on its recent successes under this new leadership structure.”
Over the past year, GSA’s real property management arm has been reorganizing itself into a more centrally-managed and functionally-oriented organization with fewer staff, replacing a previous model in which the buildings service’s management was more dominated by 11 regional offices. As part of that reorganization, PBS initially planned large-scale layoffs, but wound up rescinding about 400 of its RIF notices last September and then started a hiring campaign earlier this year.
Meanwhile, GSA has appointed at least two new leaders to head its regional operations in recent days.
Larry Allen, who has led the overall agency’s Office of Governmentwide Policy for the past year and a half, will now lead GSA’s Southeast region. In the OGP position, Allen had a key role in the major overhaul of the Federal Acquisition Regulation that began last year. GSA put the first tranches of proposed rulemaking to formally institutionalize those changes out for public comment last month.
In an interview on the GovNavigators Show on Federal News Network last month, Allen noted that acquisition reform has been a particular focus of the Trump Administration.
“We’ve had numerous executive orders. We’ve had two on DEI so far. We have had an executive order out on firm fixed price contracting. We one out originally on procurement consolidation. Those are just some examples, and you think back: how many times does acquisition get the attention of multiple EOs within the first 18 months of any presidential administration? That’s really a lot of change, and it indicates, I think, the White House and OMB desire to really drive government efficiency in the acquisition world, and of course that poses a lot of work for us at GSA. But it’s also one of the reasons why I come to work because it’s kind of fun to know that this is an administration priority. It’s got some visibility to it, and we want to create better acquisition solutions.”
Also, Robert Ortiz, a senior executive at the commercial real estate company Cushman & Wakefield, has been named the administrator for the PBS Western Region.
“Bob has spent years delivering world-class advisory and transaction services to clients nationwide,” Forst wrote. “His experience with external stakeholder management will support GSA’s high-level partnerships, particularly in the west, and his industry knowledge and best practices will better elevate GSA’s priorities and mission. Bob is well-versed in portfolio consolidation which is a high-priority area for GSA as we work to reduce our federal real estate footprint.”
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